Russia Introduces New Tax Laws for Cryptocurrency Transactions

Russia has passed a federal bill on the new tax legislation concerning the operations of cryptocurrencies. Adopted by the Federation Council, the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, on November 27, the legislation enshrines major steps to control and, as a consequence, to legalize and, possibly, to tax digital currencies.  

The introduced law has set a income tax of 13-15% on the sales of cryptocurrencies in order to establish a base for people trading cryptocurrencies. For instance, it has been made clear that all mining activities of cryptocurrency are VAT-free. However, the regulation prescribes that mining operators report detailed information about their operations to the local authorities; failure to do this attracts fines of up to 40,000 rubles ($360) inclusive.